No fault claim - can I use the at-blame party's insurer?
Discussion
Someone drove into me, and they accepted blame with their insurer.
So their insurer (LV) called me and said do I want to process the claim via them (rather than with my insurer) - I can choose the repairer, get a replacement car.
Is there a catch? If they are offering this because it's cheaper for them than going through my insurer, that's fine, I just haven't encountered this offer before.
So their insurer (LV) called me and said do I want to process the claim via them (rather than with my insurer) - I can choose the repairer, get a replacement car.
Is there a catch? If they are offering this because it's cheaper for them than going through my insurer, that's fine, I just haven't encountered this offer before.
Yes, it's cheaper for them.
It means you won't be tempted to rack up a £10k £300/day hire car bill via from an accident management company for a £1k damage claim.
You'll still have to inform your own insurer that you've been involved in an accident though, and might have to do a bit of chasing of your own to recover any out of pocket expenses / uninsured losses.
It means you won't be tempted to rack up a £10k £300/day hire car bill via from an accident management company for a £1k damage claim.
You'll still have to inform your own insurer that you've been involved in an accident though, and might have to do a bit of chasing of your own to recover any out of pocket expenses / uninsured losses.
I'm going through this at the moment after somebody ran into the back of me at a roundabout. No attempt to wriggle out of the blame, the insurer (Admiral) have been very efficient and I'm dealing direct with their approved repairers - who are a Porsche specialist. All been very straightforward so far, no excess to pay and claim back, hire car provided throughout, and no need to involve my insurers at all - although obviously will need to inform them on renewal. Thumbs up from me so far, certainly.
Yup, I've done it too, twice.
Much easier than dealing with your own ins. co.
No accident management company racking up stupid money for hire cars (that you'll be personally liable for if it all goes boobies skyward), you get to choose your own repairer and generally, the third party's ins. co. fall over themselves to help.
Its much cheaper for them to work this way, so they will be keen to keep you on side.
Much easier than dealing with your own ins. co.
No accident management company racking up stupid money for hire cars (that you'll be personally liable for if it all goes boobies skyward), you get to choose your own repairer and generally, the third party's ins. co. fall over themselves to help.
Its much cheaper for them to work this way, so they will be keen to keep you on side.
I had an accident in December and dealt with the other driver's insurance company - totally painless and quick process so definitely seems to be the best way if they have accepted liability. Of course the main benefit is that you won't have to pay any excess which you would with your own insurer (yes I know you'd get this back eventually but my insurer was talking about using solicitors etc. to get it back off the other insurance company) and the write-off valuation I was given was much better than I was expecting!
petrolbloke said:
What happens if the car is a write off and you disagree with their valuation? Can you take it to the ombudsman?
No. My Son had a non-fault accident and was put off from dealing direct with the tp's Insurer because of this. His own Insurer then made him a really crap offer to write off his car, so he wished that he'd gone direct to the other Insurer.
Tim
^^^^^^^^ I recently had this situation.
The car was uneconomical for repair which was fair enough but their offer was pathetic and they were only too happy to quote the ombudsman's regulations and were adamant that they would never budge above the book price even though it was £1500 shy of any similar vehicle available for sale. Cheeky t
ts had even sent a cheque out on the day of the first offer having told my Mrs (her car) that so far as they were concerned this was the end of the matter even though she told them she wasn't accepting the offer.
I took it on at this point. They love to string it out, saying they will get an "engineer" to look at the valuation, check other book figures etc, each stage wastes a few more days trying to wear you down and then eventually they say they just won't offer any more.
Rather than worrying about the ombudsman (which they seemed quite keen on) I pointed out that were liable for putting me back in the situation I was in before and to mitigate their losses in hire car costs I'd be happy to go out and buy a similar car and then sue them for the cost and any associated expenses.
I got a call back with a more serious offer.
The car was uneconomical for repair which was fair enough but their offer was pathetic and they were only too happy to quote the ombudsman's regulations and were adamant that they would never budge above the book price even though it was £1500 shy of any similar vehicle available for sale. Cheeky t
ts had even sent a cheque out on the day of the first offer having told my Mrs (her car) that so far as they were concerned this was the end of the matter even though she told them she wasn't accepting the offer.I took it on at this point. They love to string it out, saying they will get an "engineer" to look at the valuation, check other book figures etc, each stage wastes a few more days trying to wear you down and then eventually they say they just won't offer any more.
Rather than worrying about the ombudsman (which they seemed quite keen on) I pointed out that were liable for putting me back in the situation I was in before and to mitigate their losses in hire car costs I'd be happy to go out and buy a similar car and then sue them for the cost and any associated expenses.
I got a call back with a more serious offer.
so the write-off situation is interesting as you are not using the other party's insurer as your insurer, it's just someone who has offered to take care of the claim against #their# customer.
If it's your own insurers, you have a contract with clear terms and the way a write-off is valued is defined.
But that is presumably not so when you are dealing with the other part's ins co?
Bert
If it's your own insurers, you have a contract with clear terms and the way a write-off is valued is defined.
But that is presumably not so when you are dealing with the other part's ins co?
Bert
Fairly sure I read that one reason for the increase in insurance premium tax was because car and house premiums had started to fall after action being taken to curb payouts.
If too many insurance companies follow the process LV have in this thread and work efficiently, painlessly etc the tax will go up again!
If too many insurance companies follow the process LV have in this thread and work efficiently, painlessly etc the tax will go up again!
BertBert said:
Indeed (and as covered in the contract between you and them), but this is someone else's insurance and you don't have a contract with them.
You're right, you don't have a contract, but then you don't need one.Assuming that the accident was wholly the fault of the other driver then that driver has a legal obligation to restore you to your situation pre-accident. The insurer has a contract with the other driver, a contract that allows them to act on behalf of the other driver and that means they must indemnify the other driver.
The last time I went through dealing with a third party, they didn't play nicely at first. After a couple of weeks, I sent them an email asking them to accept liability and authorise the repair or I'd pass the matter to a accident management company. Twenty four hours later my car was booked in for a main dealer repair.
mikeveal said:
Assuming that the accident was wholly the fault of the other driver then that driver has a legal obligation to restore you to your situation pre-accident. The insurer has a contract with the other driver, a contract that allows them to act on behalf of the other driver and that means they must indemnify the other driver.
Which is interesting. Your own insurance is not obliged to restore you to your pre-accident situation.I don't know whether your logic holds true nor which laws make it so. Not having much knowledge of the laws concerning damages for negligence, it feels a bit too straightforward!
Bert
I can understand the logic in this, but in my case I was involved in a 3 vehicle accident 9 weeks ago caused by 1 of the vehicles - a logistics driver/van for a well known online retailer.
Because the fault was clear, my insurer instantly waived my excess when I phoned the accident in first thing the next morning, and when it came to paying out actually gave me twice what I'd ever have got in a private sale (£1135 vs a likely £550 in a sale, as confirmed by similar cars on Autotrader). They also handled the whole hire car thing for 6 days until I sourced a replacement car (although I didn't go the credit-hire route to keep costs down for all concerned). All in all it was a thoroughly stress-removing experience, and has bought me loyalty for the company concerned - DL.
As for the online retailer, I've not bought from them since
Because the fault was clear, my insurer instantly waived my excess when I phoned the accident in first thing the next morning, and when it came to paying out actually gave me twice what I'd ever have got in a private sale (£1135 vs a likely £550 in a sale, as confirmed by similar cars on Autotrader). They also handled the whole hire car thing for 6 days until I sourced a replacement car (although I didn't go the credit-hire route to keep costs down for all concerned). All in all it was a thoroughly stress-removing experience, and has bought me loyalty for the company concerned - DL.
As for the online retailer, I've not bought from them since
ewenm said:
Only hassle is the daily calls checking we're not injured in any way.
This will continue - 18 months so far in my case. I just block them now - easy to do if you have an iPhone. If you're on android just download a call blocking app.Also beware of the scam - I get these at least once a week:
https://www.lifesure.co.uk/blog/2013/08/scam-warni...
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